The present invention relates generally to obtaining information from a data management system (“DMS”), which as used herein is a computer system that maintains a database of business related information that can be accessed by users of the system. An example of a data management system is a customer relationship management (“CRM”) system, which is a system that manages business interactions between an organization and its customers and partners. For example, a CRM system may allow a company to manage sales or service related interactions with its customers. Examples of CRM software are SAP Business One® and Oracle CRM®. Other examples of a data management system are a supplier relationship management (“SRM”) system and an enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system. An SRM system is a system that enables businesses to manage their relationships with their suppliers and vendors, and an SRM's functionality typically includes interaction management, bid management, etc. In many respects, these interactions are similar to those in a CRM system. Examples of an SRM system are SAP Business One® and Oracle SRM®. An ERP system is a system that allows an enterprise to share customer, product, competitor and market information. Examples of an ERP management system are SAP Business One®, Great Plains™, MAS200™, and Netsuite™.
A data management system maintains information in one or more memories. The information maintained by a data management system may consist of “data objects,” which as used herein are data elements native to the data management system that may be associated with one or more actions/functions that may be performed on the data element. An example of a data object is a transactional object or a business object, such as a customer, a quotation, an order, a business partner, or an activity. For example, a business partner data object may contain items of information (such as contact information) that relate to a business partner of a company.
For a user of a data management system to obtain information from that data management system, that user typically must have an active session interfacing the user with the data management system. For example, a user may login to the data management system (by providing an account number and password) and may then be presented with a user interface for the data management system. In such a case, a user may interact with the user interface of the data management system and submit a request for information through that user interface. Information may then be provided, again through that user interface, to the user.
Among other things, the present inventors perceived a need in the art to facilitate the retrieval of information from a data management system without the user having an online connection to the data management system and/or accessing a user interface of the data management system. The present inventors also perceived a need in the art for providing updates to information, such as in an offline mode, to a user of the data management system.